Ambient pop


Ambient pop is a musical genre that developed in the 1980s as an extension of the dream pop movement. It merges structures that are common to conventional pop music with "electronic textures and atmospheres that mirror the hypnotic, meditative qualities of ambient music."

Characteristics and history

Ambient pop employs the lock-groove melodies of Krautrock as an influence. Despite being an extension of the dream pop movement, it is distinguished by its adoption of "contemporary electronic idioms, including sampling, although for the most part live instruments continue to define the sound."
David Bowie was among the first rock and pop artists to experiment with ambient music, particularly on his Berlin Trilogy with ambient music pioneer Brian Eno. The track "Red Sails" from the trilogy's third album, Lodger was described as a "piece of ambient pop with Motorik beat." English art rock band Japan's song "Taking Islands in Africa" from Gentlemen Take Polaroids is regarded by AllMusic critic Stewart Mason as a forecast of "the ambient pop direction Japan would take for the rest of their careers." Featuring the Yellow Magic Orchestra leader Ryuichi Sakamoto, the track employed "a very non-rock African talking drum rhythm, slowed down to a sub-heartbeat crawl and overlaid with layers of atmospheric keyboards and minimal bass."
Dream pop band Slowdive's 1995 Pygmalion album heavily incorporated elements of ambient electronica, influencing many bands of the genre. Pitchfork critic Nitsuh Abebe described the album's tracks as "ambient pop dreams that have more in common with post-rock like Disco Inferno than shoegazers like Ride".

List of ambient pop artists